Consumer Response to Novel Foods: A Review of Behavioral Barriers and Drivers

Abstract

There is a pressing need for a transition toward more sustainable diets, which has become a shared priority for both consumers and businesses. Innovation is becoming increasingly widespread across all facets of the food supply chain. This innovation spans various domains related to production, including sustainable cultivation methods as well as new food technologies like gene editing, new product development like functional foods, and revitalizing underutilized and genetically diverse varieties to preserve biodiversity. However, not all innovative efforts are accepted by consumers and survive in markets. The interwoven and long agri-food supply chains often obscure the feedback loop between production and consumption. Consequently, it is important to understand to what extent consumers embrace these food innovations and form new eating habits. This review aims to investigate the consumer response to novel foods, focusing on behavioral factors, which have yet to receive as much attention as sensory factors. Peer-reviewed empirical articles from the last decade are examined inductively to develop a bird’s-eye view of the behavioral barriers to and drivers of consumer acceptance of novel foods. In addition, strategies to overcome the identified challenges associated with the behavioral barriers are reviewed and examined. Based on this, the study links cognitive biases with behavioral factors influencing consumer acceptance of novel foods. This study concludes that the inconvenience associated with abandoning established eating habits is typically perceived as a loss, and avoiding this inconvenience is deemed more worth the risk than the potential gains associated with novel food consumption. This study suggests that framing and placing pro-diversity labels could serve as effective behavioral interventions for marketing strategists and food policymakers.